1 Words of Amos -- who hath been among herdsmen of Tekoa -- that he hath seen concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the shaking;
And Amos answereth and saith unto Amaziah, `I `am' no prophet, nor a prophet's son `am' I, but a herdsman I `am', and a cultivator of sycamores,
And ye have fled `to' the valley of My mountains, For join doth the valley of the mountains to Azal, And ye have fled as ye fled before the shaking, In the days of Uzziah king of Judah, And come in hath Jehovah my God, All holy ones `are' with Thee.
and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, `Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,
And they rise early in the morning, and go out to the wilderness of Tekoa, and in their going out Jehoshaphat hath stood and saith, `Hear me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, remain stedfast in Jehovah your God, and be stedfast; remain stedfast in His prophets, and prosper.'
A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel:
Words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who `are' in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin,
The Visions of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he hath seen concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock, From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance. And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them!
And all the people of Judah take Uzziah (and he `is' a son of sixteen years), and cause him to reign instead of his father Amaziah. He hath built Eloth, and restoreth it to Judah after the king's lying with his fathers. A son of sixteen years `is' Uzziah in his reigning, and fifty and two years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother `is' Jecholiah of Jerusalem. And he doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that Amaziah his father did, and he is as one seeking God in the days of Zechariah who hath understanding in visions of God: and in the days of his seeking Jehovah, God hath caused him to prosper. And he goeth forth, and fighteth with the Philistines, and breaketh down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and buildeth cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. And God helpeth him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who are dwelling in Gur-Baal and the Mehunim. And the Ammonites give a present to Uzziah, and his name goeth unto the entering in of Egypt, for he strengthened himself greatly. And Uzziah buildeth towers in Jerusalem, by the gate of the corner, and by the gate of the valley, and by the angle, and strengtheneth them; and he buildeth towers in the wilderness, and diggeth many wells, for he had much cattle, both in the low country and in the plain, husbandmen and vine-dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel; for he was a lover of the ground. And Uzziah hath a force, making war, going forth to the host, by troops, in the number of their reckoning by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Masseiah the officer, by the hand of Hananiah `one' of the heads of the king. The whole number of heads of the fathers of the mighty ones of valour `is' two thousand and six hundred; and by their hand `is' the force of the host, three hundred thousand, and seven thousand, and five hundred warriors, with mighty power to give help to the king against the enemy. And Uzziah prepareth for them, for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, even to stones of the slings. And he maketh in Jerusalem inventions -- a device of an inventor -- to be on the towers, and on the corners, to shoot with arrows and with great stones, and his name goeth out unto a distance, for he hath been wonderfully helped till that he hath been strong. And at his being strong his heart hath been high unto destruction, and he trespasseth against Jehovah his God, and goeth in unto the temple of Jehovah to make perfume upon the altar of perfume. And Azariah the priest goeth in after him, and with him priests of Jehovah eighty, sons of valour, and they stand up against Uzziah the king, and say to him, `Not for thee, O Uzziah, to make perfume to Jehovah, but for priests, sons of Aaron, who are sanctified to make perfume; go forth from the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed, and `it is' not to thee for honour from Jehovah God.' And Uzziah is wroth, and in his hand `is' a censer to make perfume, and in his being wroth with the priests -- the leprosy hath risen in his forehead, before the priests, in the house of Jehovah, from beside the altar of perfume. And Azariah the head priest looketh unto him, and all the priests, and lo, he `is' leprous in his forehead, and they hasten him thence, and also he himself hath hastened to go out, for Jehovah hath plagued him. And Uzziah the king is a leper unto the day of his death, and inhabiteth a separate house -- a leper, for he hath been cut off from the house of Jehovah, and Jotham his son `is' over the house of the king, judging the people of the land. And the rest of the matters of Uzziah, the first and the last, hath Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet written; and Uzziah lieth with his fathers, and they bury him with his fathers, in the field of the burying-place that the kings have, for they said, `He `is' a leper;' and reign doth Jotham his son in his stead.
And he goeth thence, and findeth Elisha son of Shaphat, and he is plowing; twelve yoke `are' before him, and he `is' with the twelfth; and Elijah passeth over unto him, and casteth his robe upon him,
but the foolish things of the world did God choose, that the wise He may put to shame; and the weak things of the world did God choose that He may put to shame the strong;
and Asa begat Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begat Joram, and Joram begat Uzziah, and Uzziah begat Jotham, and Jotham begat Ahaz, and Ahaz begat Hezekiah,
A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Micah the Morashite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, that he hath seen concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
And desolated have been high places of Isaac, And sanctuaries of Israel are wasted, And I have risen against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.' And Amaziah priest of Beth-El sendeth unto Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, `Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words, for thus said Amos: By sword die doth Jeroboam, And Israel certainly removeth from off its land.'
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Commentary on Amos 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Prophecy of Amos
Chapter 1
In this chapter we have,
Amo 1:1-2
Here is,
Amo 1:3-15
What the Lord says here may be explained by what he says Jer. 12:14, Thus said the Lord, against all my evil neighbours that touch the inheritance of my people Israel, Behold, I will pluck them out. Damascus was a near neighbour to Israel on the north, Tyre and Gaza on the west, Edom on the south, Ammon and (in the next chapter) Moab on the east; and all of them had been, one time, one way, or other, pricking briers and grieving thorns to Israel, evil neighbours to them; and, because God espouses his people's cause, he there calls them his evil neighbours, and here comes forth to reckon with them. The method is taken in dealing with each of them is, in part, the same, and therefore we put them together, and yet in each there is something peculiar.